Oggen

Oggen (Hebrew: עמותת עוגן) is a registered, non-partisan Israeli association founded in 1989 to assist employees who have exposed corruption in their workplaces. It was established by Mia Koch, who had experienced dismissal and harassment after exposing corruption at her own workplace, together with a group of other individuals. The association's stated goal is to eradicate common phenomena of corruption in both the public and private sectors in Israel. The organization operates on two parallel levels. On the personal-individual level, it provides legal and social support to individuals who have exposed corruption at work and now face harassment from their employers. On the social-public level, it initiates bills and promotes legislation aimed at protecting proper administration and employees who have exposed corruption. In addition, Oggen works in the field of education to raise awareness of the importance of integrity in a democratic state. Oggen runs several projects. Among them is an education project for teenagers called "Derech HaYashar" (The Straight Path), a curriculum on integrity education for middle-school students that promotes awareness of integrity as an essential component of a democratic society and clarifies differences between concepts such as "informer," "gossip," and "whistleblower." Another project, "Ethics in the Work Environment," is a training kit for employees on workplace ethics, delivered through lectures of about two hours focusing on corruption in the workplace and the need to expose it, targeting public bodies and private and public companies. The association also offers "Tag HaYosher" (Integrity Label), a standard for preventing corruption in organizations, which guides organizations through a process to receive certification that they act to eradicate and prevent corruption. The process includes stages from formulating the framework and mode of operation, content, processes and procedures, implementation (appointment and training of personnel in the organization), to control and monitoring. The association operates a legal clinic for the protection of whistleblowers, described as a unique, first-of-its-kind clinic in the country, operating at the Radzyner School of Law at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. Its purpose is to assist employees who have exposed corruption in the workplace. The clinic works on three levels: personal-individual, providing legal and social support to individuals facing harassment from employers, including accompanying the legal process, interviews, summaries, treatment, proposals, strategy formulation, assistance in implementing the strategy, and correspondence with the employer and various authorities; social-public, initiating bills and promoting legislation to protect proper administration and whistleblowers, as well as petitions to the High Court of Justice; and research-academic, conducting comparative legal research, building new tools, and proposing improvements to existing tools for assisting whistleblowers. Another project, "Protection of Whistleblowers," is a joint project of the association together with the Social Involvement Unit at Sapir College, in which law students participate and formulate a "standard" awarded to organizations working to eradicate and prevent corruption. The association also runs "Kav HaYosher" (The Integrity Line), an anonymous hotline intended to provide a response and address for the general public on corruption issues, to report corruption, and to consult on what steps to take if encountering such a case. Over the years, Oggen has handled more than 1,000 cases.

Oggen (Hebrew: עמותת עוגן) is a registered, non-partisan Israeli association founded in 1989 to assist employees who have exposed corruption in their workplaces. It was established by Mia Koch, who had experienced dismissal and harassment after exposing corruption at her own workplace, together with a group of other individuals. The association's goal is to eradicate common phenomena of corruption in both the public and private sectors in Israel. The organization operates on two parallel levels. On the personal-individual level, it provides legal and social support to individuals who have exposed corruption at work and now face harassment from their employers. On the social-public level, it initiates bills and promotes legislation aimed at protecting proper administration and employees who have exposed corruption. In addition, Oggen works in the field of education to raise awareness of the importance of integrity in a democratic state. Oggen runs several projects. Among them is an education project for teenagers called "Derech HaYashar" (The Straight Path), a curriculum on integrity education for middle-school students that promotes awareness of integrity as an essential component of a democratic society and clarifies differences between concepts such as "informer," "gossip," and "whistleblower." Another project, "Ethics in the Work Environment," is a training kit for employees on workplace ethics, delivered through lectures of about two hours focusing on corruption in the workplace and the need to expose it, targeting public bodies and private and public companies. The association also offers "Tag HaYosher" (Integrity Label), a standard for preventing corruption in organizations, which guides organizations through a process to receive certification that they act to eradicate and prevent corruption. The process includes stages from formulating the framework and mode of operation, content, processes and procedures, implementation (appointment and training of personnel in the organization), to control and monitoring. The association operates a legal clinic for the protection of whistleblowers, described as a unique, first-of-its-kind clinic in the country, operating at the Radzyner School of Law at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. Its purpose is to assist employees who have exposed corruption in the workplace. The clinic works on three levels: personal-individual, providing legal and social support to individuals facing harassment from employers, including accompanying the legal process, interviews, summaries, treatment, proposals, strategy formulation, assistance in implementing the strategy, and correspondence with the employer and various authorities; social-public, initiating bills and promoting legislation to protect proper administration and whistleblowers, as well as petitions to the High Court of Justice; and research-academic, conducting comparative legal research, building new tools, and proposing improvements to existing tools for assisting whistleblowers. Another project, "Protection of Whistleblowers," is a joint project of the association together with the Social Involvement Unit at Sapir College, in which law students participate and formulate a "standard" awarded to organizations working to eradicate and prevent corruption. The association also runs "Kav HaYosher" (The Integrity Line), an anonymous hotline intended to provide a response and address for the general public on corruption issues, to report corruption, and to consult on what steps to take if encountering such a case. Over the years, Oggen has handled more than 1,000 cases. Notable cases include Moshe Hazut, an Israel Railways employee who exposed safety failures and organizational irregularities, including failure to hold workers' committee elections as required by law, severe safety defects, purchase of old carriages, amateur driver training, and appointment of relatives; Hazut returned to his position at the railway after a prolonged and publicized struggle lasting over seven years. Meshulam Dar, an employee of the Rabbinical Court, exposed corruption at the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court, including employees clocking in for colleagues who did not come to work. Avi Bar-Lev, a storekeeper at Wolfson Hospital, exposed corruption among the hospital's senior management, including tailored tenders and receipt of benefits; Bar-Lev was fired after the exposure, but the court ruled that he should be reinstated. Rafi Rotem, an intelligence officer at the Israel Tax Authority, exposed unusual procedures including transfer of information to criminal elements, sexual bribery of a senior official in exchange for information on tax investigations, and abandonment of an intelligence source that led to his murder; Rotem's struggle began in 2003 and is still far from over. The association's board includes Adv. Hai Bar-El as chairman, Zeev Lipkovitz, Dr. Chen Kugel – director of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine who exposed irregularities in the institute's management by Prof. Yehuda Hiss, Adv. Maayan Rosenberg, Dov Goldbard, and accountant Hanna Cohen. The association's activities have won many achievements and received the Knesset Speaker's Prize for Quality of Life in Israel for 1998 (תשנ"ח) for its excellent activity in promoting the rule of law, democratic values, and human rights.

• 1998

  Oggen receives the Knesset Speaker's Prize for Quality of Life in Israel (תשנ"ח) for promoting the rule of law, democratic values, and human rights.

• 1989

  Oggen is founded by Mia Koch and a group of individuals to assist employees who expose corruption.

1. 1Official websiteoggen.org.il
2. 2Wikidata entry for Oggenwikidata.org
3. 3Hebrew Wikipedia article on עמותת עוגןhe.wikipedia.org